Escape the Madness: How to Stop Running and Start Living

It's difficult to pin down the moment you joined the madness. It just sort of ... happened.

When you were in college, you probably didn't have much money. Whatever money you had left bought you some beer or a dinner out with friends.

You entered the workforce and started making real money. When you get a promotion, you still can't get ahead because your burn rate keeps pace with what you make.

The problem with the treadmill is that there's no finish line. There's nobody waiting in the end to give you a medal and dump a cooler of Gatorade over your head. The wheel just keeps spinning. And the longer you're caught in this cycle of consumption, the more natural it becomes. You forget that it wasn't always like that.

How to Quit the Wheel

The very first step toward escaping the rat race is being able to see the rat race. When you're just trying to hold on, it's easy to saddle yourself with a hefty mortgage and an expensive car payment and then convince yourself that's what will make you happy, but it's important to realize that your stressors are entirely self-inflicted.

The good news is that you got yourself onto the wheel, which means you can get yourself off of it.

1. Change your workweek.

The 9-to-5 grind is gospel in the hamster cage, but it's not the most effective way to put money in the bank. Rather than concentrating on putting out fires and generating immediate results, consider dedicating at the very least 15 percent of your time to activities that build on your lifestyle and 40 percent of your time to developing new platforms (instead of maintaining existing ones).

Supposing you spent Monday, Wednesday, and Friday laying out your daily priorities and dedicated Tuesday and Thursday to focusing on a new long-term project? Supposing you took some days off? It's crazy, I know, but overturning your routine can help you get off the wheel.

2. Pay yourself.

If you consult with a rat who has been running the wheel for years, he'll tell you that he earns 10 times what he used to, but his quality of life has not improved. The more he works, the more he spends, and the faster his income disappears. If you want to escape this vicious cycle, you must pay yourself first and sock some money away to accumulate for the future.

3. Only buy things that increase your quality of life.

Our culture of consumption is often what pulls us into the rat race in the first place. It's drilled into us from a very young age that a big house with a yard and a white picket fence is central to the American Dream, but did you really buy a house, or did you just obtain a job as a handyman/gardener?

At some time, the stuff you own starts to own you. Whatever you spend your money on, be sure it enhances your quality of life.

4. Lead by example.

When you plant your feet on firm ground for the first time in years, you might take a look around and notice you don't have much company. The rat race may have even consumed your business.

To help your employees escape the rat race, you first need to demonstrate proof of the concept in your own life. Then try giving them time during the week to work on their passion projects, and encourage them to invest in themselves. Because, you don't want a bunch of people working on the wheel for you when you worked so hard to get off of it yourself!

Once you escape the rat race, you'll have the ability to move freely and appreciate the world around you without getting dizzy. Remember: Life is a journey, not the destination, and you don't wish to spend that journey on a treadmill going nowhere.

Escape the Treadmill: How to Stop Running and Start Living

Use these four tips to escape the rat race and commit to yourself instead.

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It’s difficult to pin down the moment you joined the madness. It just sort of … happened.
When you were in college, you probably didn’t have much money. Whatever money you had left bought you some beer or a dinner out with friends.